Zemer (Hebrew: זמר, Arabic: زيمر) is an Arab local council in the Central District of Israel. It is located in the Arab Triangle area, between Baqa al-Gharbiyye and Bat Hefer on Road 574. Zemer is the result of a merger of four villages – Bir al-Sika, Ibtan, Marja and Yama - in 1988.
Zemer
| |
|---|---|
Local council (from 1988) | |
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Zemr |
 | |
  Zemer  Zemer | |
| Coordinates: 32°22′4″N 35°1′59″E / 32.36778°N 35.03306°E | |
| Grid position | 154/197 PAL |
| Country |  Israel |
| District | Central |
| Founded | 1988 (merger) |
| Government | |
| • Head of Municipality | Yassin Harzalla |
| Area | |
| • Total | 8,203 dunams (8.203 km2 or 3.167 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
| • Total | 7,457 |
| • Density | 910/km2 (2,400/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | Khurbet Ibthan; meaning "Ruin of gardens, or of soft soil"[2] |
History
Before the Common Era
Archaeological work in Yama brought to light settlement remains ranging from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) to the Ottoman period.[3] At Ibtan, potsherds dating from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine period have been found.[4]
Middle Bronze Age II findings from Yama have been tentatively identified to belong to the ancient site of Yaham.[3] Yaham was mentioned in Egyptian sources regarding pharaohs Thutmose III and Shoshenq I.[5] The 15th century BCE annals describing the campaign of Thutmose III against a coalition of Canaanite city-states recount how the pharaoh camped at Yaham before marching on through the pass of Aruna (today's Wadi Ara), at whose exit he attacked and captured the city of Megiddo.[5]
Mamluk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire
In 1265, two of the villages were mentioned among the estates which the Mamluk sultan Baibars granted his emirs after he had defeated the Crusaders: The whole of Ibthan (Bathan) was given to his emir 'Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Halabi al-Salihi,[6] while Yamma was divided equally between the emirs Saif al-Din Itamish al-Sa'di and Shams al-Din Aqsunqur.[7]
Yama and Ibtan appeared in Ottoman tax registers compiled in 1596, in the Nahiyas of Qaqun and Jabal Sami, respectively, of the Nablus Liwa. Yama had a population of 18 Muslim households and 5 bachelors, while Ibtan was indicated as empty even though it paid taxes.[8]
In 1882, in the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine, only Khurbet Ibthan was noted, with "traces of ruins and a well."[9]
British Mandate and Israel
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bir al-Sikka had a population of 36, Ibthan 56 and Yamma 48, all Muslims.[10] Until 1948, all four villages were administratively related to the modern-day Palestinian town of Deir al-Ghusun.[11][12]
Zemer's population at the end of 2009 was 5,700,[13] and its jurisdiction is 8,203 dunams.[14] The population increased to 6,375 in 2014.[15] The mayor of Zemer is Yassin Harzalla.[16]
References
Bibliography
- Abu Fana, Mohammed (2006-01-23). "Ibthan Final Report" (118). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Ibn al-Furat (1971). Jonathan Riley-Smith (ed.). Ayyubids, Mamluks and Crusaders: Selections from the "Tarikh Al-duwal Wal-muluk" of Ibn Al-Furat : the Text, the Translation. Vol. 2. Translation by Malcolm Cameron Lyons, Ursula Lyons. Cambridge: W. Heffer.
- Masarwa, Durar (2011-08-10). "Ibthan (North) Final Report" (123). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Masarwa, Durar (2011-09-07). "Ibthan (North) Final Report" (123). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Masarwa, Durar (2011-11-29). "Ibthan Final Report" (123). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Masarwa, Durar (2012-12-06). "Ibthan Final Report" (124). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Masarwa, Durar (2015-03-09). "Ibthan Final Report" (127). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Masarwa, Durar (2016-03-31). "Ibthan Final Report" (128). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Toueg, Ron (2010-09-05). "Ibthan Final Report" (122). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Zertal, A. (2016). The Manasseh Hill Country Survey. Vol. 3. Boston: BRILL. ISBN 978-9004312302. pp. 439-440
External links
- Welcome To Bir al-Sikka
- Welcome To Kh. Ibthan
- Welcome To al-Marja
- Welcome To Khirbat Yamma
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons
